The maritime shipping industry is big business in Indiana.
A new report by Martin Associates, a provider of economic and strategic assessments of the world’s transportation systems, found Indiana’s three ports contribute $8.2 billion annually to the state’s economy, a 5% increase from the last report. The sector also supports 51,000 jobs and generates more than $552 million in state and local taxes.
The economic impact study, which is conducted every five years, is based on 2019 data measuring jobs, income, business revenue and economic output.
“Maritime plays a large part in our state’s economy,” said Vanta Coda, CEO of the Ports of Indiana. “2021 looks to be another strong year and we hope to see international shipments grow (because) transportation is all about bigger, better, faster; that’s always our goal.”
In 2019, the Ports of Indiana harbors – Burns Harbor, Jeffersonville, and Mount Vernon – handled nearly 16.4 million tons of waterborne cargo including key commodities including coal, iron ore, steel products, grain, soybean products, ethanol, DDG, fertilizer, dry bulks, and minerals.
The Burns Harbor port supported 30,970 jobs, this included 6,454 direct jobs, 7,013 induced jobs, 9,977 indirect jobs and 7,526 related jobs. The value of the port’s economic activity was estimated at $5.2 billion and generated $402,605,149 million in state and local taxes.
Ports of Indiana is investing $50 million in infrastructure improvement projects by 2025 including $28 million at Burns Harbor and $22 million in Jeffersonville. In 2019, Mount Vernon completed a $2 million capital improvement project including a new overhead gantry crane.
